Questions about our delivery service? Get ‘em answered here!

Lead Delivery Coordinator Rick Caines works with our customers and our team of drivers to arrange prompt, convenient, and safe delivery.

Al Valley is one of our most popular drivers! He works primarily in southern New Hampshire, and is known for his efficient service and expert touch with the pallet jack.

RC: What I do is coordinate all the deliveries here at WoodPellets.com. Once you place your order, the orders come to me, and I set them up on runs for delivery. Typically, I prefer email…so I’ll send you an email about 48 hours ahead of time to let you know what day we’re going to come deliver. If I don’t get a response, I’ll follow that up with a phone call.

Once I get confirmation, I set the runs up and forward everything to Al, and he goes out to make the delivery.

I: About how long does it take, from the time I place my order to the time I hear from you?

RC: It depends on the season. It could be anywhere from 3-7 days, or it could be a couple of weeks, just depending on what time of year it is when you place your order.

I: So Al, once you have the delivery, what happens?

AV: I have to go to the warehouse and pick up, get pellets for your pellet stove from the warehouse, make sure I got the right paperwork. Look at the delivery and make sure I ain’t gotta make any phone calls, to make sure when I deliver to your house that you’re leaving the instructions. Or if I have to call you in advance, to make sure that somebody’s gonna be there or not gonna be there.

I: So I don’t have to be home when you deliver?

AV: No, you do not.

I: Ok, if I’m not home, what should I do?

AV: We would like to have good instructions for where to put the pallets.

I: Where do most people put their pallets?

AV: In the driveway. Or in the garage.

I: So you could put them in the back of my garage, for example?

AV: Yes, we could. We have a pallet jack service that we do, that we can put the pallets in the back of the garage, or the side of the garage. And some people put them in the middle, ‘cause they usually have two car garages.

I: Now what if I had a shed out back, or something like that. Could you do that?

AV: We cannot with a pallet jack. It will not work on a wooden floor. It’s gotta be a cement floor. We could put the pallets maybe out by there with the Moffet, if it’s wide enough. A Moffett is approximately 9 feet wide, so we’ve gotta have clear room to maneuver it.

I: Got it. So what happens if you go out for a delivery, do you ever have to reschedule? What happens if you have to reschedule?

AV: Sometimes we have to reschedule because of weather, we could have mechanical errors on the truck or the machine. Most times, if we reschedule we can get it done in a short period of time. [to Rick] Right? I don’t know, you do it!

RC: That was my question – you took my question!

AV: Well you should’ve… you were supposed to jump in!

I: Rick, do you have anything to add there?

RC: Typically if we have to reschedule, we try to do so as quickly as possible. The following day, depending on what it is. If it’s weather related, we try to do it as quick as possible. But based on everybody’s needs and wants.

I: So that’s the basic process. Do you guys have any advice or anything you recommend to customers to make sure everything goes really smoothly?

AV: Good instructions.

RC: Good instructions are really important. Give us a good set of instructions or mark us out an easily accessible area. And give us a phone number that, if need be, we can call and someone will answer if there is an issue. So we don’t have to leave and not necessarily have the pellets where you want them and make you unhappy, I guess.

AV: So we don’t have to reschedule you again.

RC: Obviously It has happened, and yeah, we will come back if we don’t get it right the first time and we’ll move them for you. But we prefer not to have to do that.

I: So the ultimate goal is to make sure the customer is…

AV: the customer is very happy.

I: Alright, thank you guys very much!

* * * * *

[wpvideo thPHQQ2V]

I: Rick, we have a question from a customer. What happens if someone finds a broken bag in their delivery?

RC: Well unfortunately, occasionally it does happen. If it happens and we know about it before we leave, the driver will call me, and we’ll issue you a credit instantly. If it happens, if the customer notices it, all they have to do is call myself or Joy, and Joy will give them a credit for any damaged bags.

* * * * *

[wpvideo aFOeOXHr]

I: So, another question from a customer: can a customer leave their pellets outside? Is it ok to leave their pellets out in the rain?

RC: It is. They come with a protective shroud over them, and as long as the shroud is intact and in place, it’s ok to leave them outside for several weeks.

AV: And?

RC: Did you have anything to add, Al?

AV: Well, what do you mean? What about putting the wrap around it?

RC: And we recommend if you’re going to leave them outside for an extended period of time that you put a tarp over them, just to protect them.

* * * * *

Do you have a delivery question for Al or Rick that they didn’t answer here? Post it below to continue the conversation!

Recent Tweets

Visit Us on Facebook

About Us

WoodPellets.com is the nation’s leading online retailer of wood pellet fuel, offering home delivery to customers on the eastern seaboard from Maine to Maryland, and in select areas of the Midwest and West Coast, as well as nationwide truckload delivery of 20 tons or more.